November 8, 2010
The Balance Between Crazy and Amazing
My diocese is not known to have many money problems.
But when a committee started drafting the 2011 budget, they realized we were facing a shortfall. Like every church organization, we’ve tightened our belts, frozen salaries, and made tough decisions. Still revenue is down in many congregations, which means mission share – the portion each congregation contributes as part of the diocese – also is down.
We might be crazy.
At each step, this could turn ugly (I mean, what if my favorite program isn’t in everybody’s top 10??) Some vestry representatives understand the connection between diocese and congregation; others wonder why we need a diocesan staff at all, save for the bishop to handle confirmations.
Or the experience could be amazing, with people feeling empowered in decision-making and emboldened to take risks to strengthen the church and spread the Gospel.
I pray God stays at the heart of our conversations, keeping crazy and amazing in balance.
What do you think of this process? What new models of budgeting are you deploying?
How are you making the decision of what goes and who stays?